JK Rowling Drops Heavy Hint About Final Fantastic Beasts Film

Speaking on the red carpet at the New York premiere for Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, JK Rowling revealed a seemingly small titbit about the franchise that actually reveals a great deal.

When asked by Variety about why the franchise had expanded from the trilogy first announced to five films, she gave a familiar answer, but with a crucial extra bit of information.

“Originally, to tell you the truth, we said a trilogy as a placeholder. We wanted to be honest with people that it was going to be more than one movie, but we were feeling our way. Then, there came a point in the drafting of our story where I said to [director David Yates], ‘You know, this feels like five movies, and I think I’m pretty certain about that.’ … It’s pretty ambitious to tell it in five to be honest because we’re spanning 19 years.”

So the story arc in the five films takes place across a period of 19 years. Interesting. Why? Because the first Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them film is set in 1926, so that means the final film will climax in 1945. And 1945 is a very significant year in Harry Potter lore.

That’s the year Dumbledore and Grindelwald had their famous duel (SPOILER: Dumbledore wins gets the powerful Elder Wand). Since it’s already been confirmed both of those wizards play a major part in the Fantastic Beasts story arc (with Johnny Depp playing Grindelwald… in film two at least) it now appears that a the epic Dumbledore vs Grindelwald duel will be the major event in the final film.

Interestingly, back in 2007 Rowling confirmed to a fan during a reading of Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince at Carnegie Hall, that, “Dumbledore is gay,” and that he had been in love with Gellert Grindelwald. “Falling in love can blind us to an extent,” she said, adding that Dumbledore felt, “horribly, terribly let down,” by Grindelwald. What she’s never made explicit is if Grindelwald ever reciprocated that love.

So could we actually see an openly gay Dumbledore in the Fantastic Beasts films? Will he be in a relationship with the series’ big bad? Expect the Daily Mail to get all hot and bothered, whatever…